Folding display cabinet



Jan. 1, 1935. I J. p. SPANG 1,986,077

'FOLDING DISPLAY CABINET Y Filed Nov. 28, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l lnvehTor.

'LJOSSPh P. Spung byMWl/W Afiys.

Jan. 1, 1935.

J. SPANG FOLDING DISPLAY CABINET Filed Nov. 28, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2\nvenTo'r Uoseph P. Sp

Jan. 1, 1935. J. P. SPANG 1,986,077

FOLDING DI SPLAY CABINET Filed Nov. 28, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.1?

InvenTor. Joseph Spung M WpW AiTys.

The upper shelf 5 is hinged to a cross bar 31 of angle iron whichextends from one post 6 to the other at the upper end thereof, the hingeconnection for such shelf 5 being indicated generally at The sidemembers 3 and 4 are provided with shelf-supporting rails 19 by which theshelves are supported in their operative position. These rails aresecured to the side sheets 11 of the side members and'the upper portion20 of each rail is offset inwardly thereby to provide a groove 21between itand the sheet 11 as best seen in Fig. 6. The side edge of eachshelf is formed with a downturned lip 22 adapted to be reoeivedin thegroove 21. The shelves rest at the top edge of theoffs'et portion 20 ofthe rails and the engagement of the. lips 22 in the groove 21 serves tolock the shelves and side members securely together. Theshelves 5 and5a. are of less depth than the other shelves because of the inclinedposition of the upper part 17 of theposts12. I

I I may,- if desired, providethe glass frontier the shelves 5a, 5b andsuch a construction-is illustrated in the drawings." The glass front isindicated at 23 and ithas a' suflicient 'i transverse dimension so thatthe edgesof 'theglass front rest on the inclined portion 1'7 of thefront posts,

said glass preferably extending the full vertical dimension ofsaidinclined portion 17. The glass is supported in a suitable metal framcomprising the bottom and top rails 33, and

and the side rails '34, 36. The top and bottom rails 35, 33 and the-endor side rails 34 are rigidly connected on the end rail 36, which-isseparable from the other rails. This construction permits the glass withits attached rail 36 to be withdrawn from the top and bottom rails-incase it is neces sary to remove the glass. Thetop rail 35 ishinged tothe'front edge ofthe top shelf '5 as indicated at 38 and hencetheglassis supported partially by said top shelf and-partially by theinclined portion 17 of the front rails.

The end rail 36 is detachably secured to the top and bottom rails 35, 33by means of the construction-shown in Figs.'3 and 4. Thef'en'ds 39 ofthe siderails- 36 arefwidened sufficiently to receive the ends of thetop and bottom ra'ils' 35, '33 and said 'side rail- 36 issecured to theother rails by means of screws '40 which screw through the overlappingportions of the rails.

The top rail-35and the bottom rail 33 each has afilling block 41 at theend thereof which is set within-the side rail 36; said-filling blocksfurnishing ample anchorage for the threads of the screws 40. -Whenthescrews are removed then the glass with the e'nd'rail 36 can bei'eadily withdrawn-from'the'top and bottom rails. The glass front 23 isprovided at itslower end with a handle 43 by-which said front may-beraised in order togiveaccess to-theshelves 5a and 5b. "When thecabinet-is to be folded the shelves are lifted fromengagementwiththesupporting rails 19 and-the sides are thenswungoutwardly slightly topermit' the shelves to fold intothe dottedline position Fig; 2. The top shelf 5 with its'attached'glass front 23may then be folded against the folded shelves 5a,- 5b,'5c and for thispurpose'the hinge" connection 32 for the topshelf shelves as shownby'dotted lines Fig. 2 and'full lines Fig; 5." When the shelves and-thefront have thus been folded then the sides 'rnaybe folded inwardly asshown by full lines in Fig. 5.

"accomplished the shelves serve to tie the sides firmly together andhold them in a position to support the'glass front 23. The structure canthen be used for the display apparatus.

Because of the folding nature of the device it "carr'be" readily used asan emergency display cabinet for exhibiting a display in a store or inany desirable location and when it has served its purpose it can befolded and stored in a small space. The device isof special utility instores that have a somewhat limited counter space because it providesadditional counter space-which can be brought intouse whenever desiredand i can be stored in a small space when not needed.

In Figs. 9 to 12 I have illustrated another embodiment of the inventionin which the side sections are of glass or some transparent material andin which the back is made with doors that canbe opened to give access tothe upper'shelves. The display cabinet illustrated in these figures .isindicatedgenerally at 44. and it comprises the back section, sidesections and front sections as in the. other embodiment of theinvention. Said display cabinet also comprises the two angle iron posts6 as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 8 which. are connected by tie rods 7 onwhich the shelves 5a, 5b are hung and theupperangle iron-cross bar 31towhich the topsshelf 5is hinged as shown at 32. The side membersare alsohinged to the posts, 6 and eachv side member. has .at its front edge theangle iron front post 12, the upperend 17, .of which is bent backwardlyslightly, The front of the cabinet is also closed by a glass panel 23which rests against the inclined portion 17 of the front post, the upperedge of which ishinged to the front edge of the top shelf 5 as shown at38.

. The constructionythus far described is similar to that shown in Figs.1 tot-8.1 Inthe display cabinet 44, however, .the -back.is closedby twosliding doors 45, 46 which are preferably made of :sheet metal and. eachof which is slidingly supported at its upper. end on a rod .47 thatextends between and is supported by. the rear posts; 6.

The upper edge of each shelfcis' shownas formed into a loop 48 whichencircles .the corresponding supporting rod 47. I The bottom edges ofthe two doors are received in a channel iron guide member 49 whichextendsbetween and issecured to the posts 6. Each door is provided witha finger opening 50 into which a I personmay insert his finger in orderto slide the door open. Each door has a transverse'dimension equal't'o"slightlymore than half the transversedimension of the cam- 2,

net so that the adjacent edges of the doors overlapslightly. Either doorcan be slid on its guides 47, 49 into open position and by'thismeans'thecontents of the shelves 5a and 5b are readily ac- I cessible from theback. I

The end or side sections of the display cabinet 44'are of glass so thatthe contents of the shelves can be readily seen'throughsaid' sides. Eachside sectioncomprises a -vertical'strip fil wh'ich ishinged to the frontedge of the corresponding' posts 6 by suitable hinges 52 and thesestrips 51 are connected with the front post 12 through cross rails 53,54, 56 which are constructed so that they function both asmeans forsupporting glass panels 55 and for supporting the shelves in theiroperative position.

The upper cross bar 56 is formed with a groove 57 to receive thedown-turned lip 21 on the edge of the top shelf and is also provided onits under side with a groove 58 to receive the upper edge'of the upperglass panel 55. Each of the two transverse bars 54 is formed on itsupper edge with a groove 59 designed to receive the lower edge of theglass panel 55 above it and said groove is also wide enough to receivethe down-turned edge 21 of the shelves 511, 5b in addition to the glasspanel as shown in Fig. 12. The lower edge of each of the cross rails 54is provided with a groove 60 to receive the upper edge of the glasspanel beneath it. The bottom cross rail 53 is channel shaped andreceives the lower edge of the bottom glass panel 55 and the down-turnedlip of the bottom shelf. This is clearly shown in Fig. 12.

61 indicates packing which may be inserted between the lower edge ofeach glass panel and one wall of the channel in which itis received,such packing serving to hold the glass tight when the shelves have beendisconnected from the cross pieces and folded in their verticalposition.

The manner in which the construction shown in Figs. 9 to 12 is used insimilar to that described shelves are raised to disconnect the lips 21on the ends thereof from the cross bars 53, 54, 56 then said shelvesmaybe dropped in theirvertical folded position against the back and thetop shelf with the glass front may also be folded into a verticalposition in front of the folded shelves.

When this has been done then the side or end 7 sections can be foldedagainst the folded-front at its upper edge to the front edge ofthe topshelf and adapted to rest against the front edges of the side sectionswhen the top shelf is in operative position.

2. A folding display cabinet comprising a back section, a plurality ofshelves pivoted to the back section and adapted to fold downwardlythere-. against, two side sections pivoted to the back section andadapted to fold backwardly against. the folded shelves, said sidesections having means to support the shelves when the latter are'inoperative position," and a closure member hinged to the front edge ofthe top shelf and adapted to rest against the front edges. of the sidesections when .said top shelf is in operative position, and to restagainst the folded shelves when, the top shelf is folded; the combinedvertical dimension of the top shelf and the front closure when in foldedpositionbeing less than the vertical dimension of the back section.

'- JOSEPH P. SPANG.

